US 'ready' to make new Iran deal amid heated exchange

The US stands “ready” to strike a new nuclear accord with Iran, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

“We’ll see what happens, but we’re ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster,” Trump said at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kansas City, Missouri.

The US and Iran engaged in a heated exchange of words over the weekend with Trump responding to a warning from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani by saying on Twitter: “NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED.”

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018

COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them —albeit more civilized ones—for 40 yrs. We’ve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 23, 2018

Trump has drawn Tehran’s ire and unsettled close allies by unilaterally withdrawing the US from the 2015 nuclear accord struck between Iran and the P5+1 group — the permanent five members of the UN Security Council and Germany — of world powers. Iran has insisted it will not renegotiate the deal.

Read: Trump has given Israel a licence to kill

Tehran received billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for instituting a robust international nuclear inspection regime and allowing curbs on its nuclear program.

The US was a driving force behind the agreement under former President Barack Obama, but Trump has long taken issue with the accord, repeatedly calling it one of the “worst” deals he has ever seen.

Following the US’s unilateral exit, the Trump administration has been seeking to have other countries follow suit by raising the spectre of snapped-back sanctions which would punish businesses and governments from activities that were allowed under the agreement.